A good editorial by Nick Kristof today in the Times. Not politically correct, but good. There's probably lots of ways to interpret it and it's probably too easy to just be critical and dismissive, but I just wanted to the it out there as I found it a very interesting read about spending decisions and priorities of the very poor in the third world. Moonshine or the Kids?
I didn't even know home funerals still occurred, but apparently they are growing in popularity among some families looking for a more intimate and less commercial end-of-life experience. While it seems most home funerals are followed by cremation, this article indicates in most states you can still be buried on your own property if it's rural land and you get the right permits.
Many report strong psychological benefits from a home funeral similar to what was common generations ago.
Article from the NYTimes
Another good article from MSNBC
and another similar from the Washington Post.
There was a good story in today's NYTimes about the online game Second Life offering insights into what makes us tick. (NYTimes i.d. required but registration is free)
Second Life is a virtual world, so there's no reason it should be similar to real life, but in many respects it is. Keep in mind that I've never visited the site, but have read quite a bit about it. The site seems to be a popular topic of social researchers also.
The NYTimes article discusses how status matters even in a virtual world. People use in-world currency to purchase nice clothes, hairstyles, nice homes, real estate, and even "buff" bodies (in-game avatars). The article notes that "trendy" fashions evolve in this virtual world just like in the real world.
Much of this to me indicates we're hardwired to pursue status and I think this might be behind our keeping-up-with-the-Jones' mindset. There's probably no real reason we need all the stuff we think we do (most of us passed what we "need" long ago), but our stuff serves as a proxy for status -> status is what we really want.
In the real world I think this helps us think about our motivations and understand what makes us tick. From a financial perspective maybe it'll help us control things a bit better when we realize how we're wired.
Forrest Gump in one of my favorite movies understood this:
Now, Momma said there's only so much fortune a man really needs and the rest is just for showing off.
